Katy dominated the field in seven events, winning on the long track in the scholastic women’s 500 meter, the scholastic women’s 800 meter, the scholastic women’s 1,000 meter and the scholastic women’s 3,200 meter races.
On the short track, Katy picked up three more gold medals in the scholastic women’s 1,000 meter, scholastic women’s 500 meter and scholastic women’s 777 meter races.
The freshman at Averill Park High School has been skating with the Saratoga Winter Club for about six years and had previously competed in the 2010 and 2011 Empire State Winter Games. She missed the 2012 games with a broken foot, which she has worked her way back from in time for the scheduled events of 2013.
Katy says she always enjoyed ice skating, but originally pursued figure skating as opposed to speed skating.
“I was a figure skater for a while and I love skating but I didn’t really like the jumping of figure skating and I really liked going fast,” said Katy. “I’ve always been really competitive. My dad knew my coach from a long time ago and he thought I might like it, so I tried it and I ended up loving it.”
Katy’s broken foot in 2012 was a slight setback for the majority of last year’s big speed skating events, but returned with a very impressive seventh place finish at the Junior National Championships in Virginia earlier this year. Her next events would be during the Empire State Winter Games.
“I broke my leg in January and had surgery immediately,” Katy recalls. “I was cleared to skate over April break of last year, and it’s been such a hard process to come back. I was working towards Junior Nationals where they choose a Junior World Team to compete in Poland at a really big meet. I was really happy with how I did there.”
The surgery is occasionally problematic for the young skater, but her competitive nature seems to keep her focused.
“I still have the screws in my ankle which can be a problem, but I mostly just deal with it,” Katy said.
Katy says she’ll begin working toward Age Group Nationals during the beginning of March. She doesn’t have her sights set on a solid finish, but rather to win the competition outright and her first national championship. She has an eye toward the future, with hopes of also improving her performance at the Junior National Championships in 2014.
